In the field of teen pregnancy prevention many efficacious prevention programs are available but adoption of these programs is slow at the community level. In this article, we present a multi-site, capacity-building effort called the Promoting Science-based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention project (PSBA) as a case example of a proactive application of the Interactive System Framework (ISF) for dissemination and implementation. The ISF is a multi-system model leading to dissemination and implementation of science-based prevention programming through the work of three interactive systems: The "Prevention Delivery," "Prevention Support," and "Prevention Synthesis & Translation" Systems. This article describes the proactive use of the ISF to conceptualize and bolster the PSBA program's goal of assisting local prevention partners in the use of science-based approaches (SBA) to prevent teen pregnancy. PSBA uses all three systems of the ISF to facilitate practice improvements and offers valuable research opportunities to investigate factors related to dissemination and implementation processes across these systems. Describing our application of this framework highlights the feasibility of actively using the ISF to build prevention infrastructure and to guide large-scale prevention promotion strategies in the area of teen pregnancy prevention. The program's ongoing evaluation is presented as an example of early efforts to develop an evidence base around the ISF. Research implications are discussed.

Why do many African women continue to use damaging skin-bleaching cosmetics that contain dangerous chemicals (e.g., mercury) that may increase their rates of infertility, skin cancer, and serious skin/brain/kidney disease? To address this question, our study investigated motivations driving the preservation of skin-bleaching practices in Tanzania. We conducted qualitative interviews with 42 urban women in Dar es Salaam who reported engaging in skin-bleaching practices and who were a subset of a larger sample of women from a study investigating the prevalence of skin bleaching in Tanzania. Results yielded six thematic motivations behind the practice of skin bleaching: (a) to remove pimples, rashes, and skin disease; (b) to have soft skin; (c) to be White, ''beautiful,'' and more European looking; (d) to remove the adverse affects of extended skin bleaching use on the body; (e) to satisfy one's partner and/or attract male mates; and (f) to satisfy and impress peers. These findings provide empirical support for skin bleaching being linked to self-objectification, colonialism, and Westernization. Skin bleaching is discussed in the context of other potentially harmful body modification practices in which women participate as a result of external and internalized standards of beauty. Implications for future research and potential practice and policy interventions are discussed.

This study experimentally examined the effect of a school-based emancipatory intervention on the psychological and behavioral well-being of African American adolescents. Sixty-five eighth graders in an inner-city, predominantly Black school were randomly assigned to either receive the experimental intervention or a regular Life Skills course (the control condition). The class met three times a week for one semester. Growth trajectory modeling was used to test the extent to which the intervention affected students' communal worldviews, individualism, school connectedness, motivation to achieve, and social change activities over time. Results indicated that the intervention positively affected each of these variables. Increased communalism and increased school connectedness mediated the relationship between the intervention and students' motivation to achieve. Competitive individualistic orientation was a partial mediator for motivation to achieve. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.In the United States, adolescence is a turning point in the personal and educational lives of young people. For many students, it is the commencement of a number of positive changes including self-reflection, identity exploration, emergence of a more complete self-concept, and the AUTHORS' NOTE: This research was made possible through NIMH grant F31 MH66606, awarded to the first author.

Results of both amplitude and latency data from this normative neural adaptation function of the auditory pathway serves as guide for improving diagnostic utility of both ECochG and ABR using CLAD as a reliable technique in distinguishing inner ear and auditory nerve disorders.

Gang involvement is an increasing issue among Latino youth, yet nuanced research on its potential causes is scarce. Quantitative and qualitative data were used to explore links between acculturative stress and gang involvement among immigrant and U.S.-born Latino middle school students (N = 199). Regression analyses showed that U.S.-born youths were more likely to be gang-involved if they experienced discrimination stress, but less likely to be gang-involved if experiencing adaptation stress. Neither form of stress predicted gang involvement among immigrant youth; however, several reported economic inequality as a difference between themselves and Americans. Those reporting inequality were more likely to be gang-involved than those who did not. These findings suggest gang involvement may work differently for U.S.-born and immigrant Latinos.

The Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) is a multi-system framework that can guide research-to-practice efforts by building and supporting the work of three interacting systems: the Prevention Delivery, Support, and Synthesis and Translation Systems. The Synthesis and Translation system is vital to bridging science and practice, yet how to develop it and train support system partners to use it is under-researched. This article bridges this gap by offering a case example of the planning, development, and use of a synthesis and translation product called Promoting Science-based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention using Getting To Outcomes. The case presented documents the process used for developing the synthesis and translation product, reports on efforts to engage the Prevention Support system to use the product, and how we approached building interaction between the Synthesis and Translation System and the Support System partners. Practice-oriented evaluation data are also presented. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed.

The practice of skin bleaching, or chemically lightening the skin, has become more common worldwide in the past 30 years. In Africa, the practice is especially problematic, because caustic ingredients are combined with bleaching products, increasing the risk for health problems, such as irreversible skin damage, cancers, and liver or kidney failure. Despite these risks, skin bleaching remains prevalent, with rates nearing 30% in East Africa. The few interventions implemented to prevent skin bleaching show marginal success in decreasing these numbers. This study takes steps to identify the most effective means of prevention for a Tanzanian community where skin bleaching practices are prevalent. A team of 20 Tanzanians worked toward this goal using participatory research techniques. Results yielded components for the structure of an ideal intervention program, including (a) didactic education, (b) governmental action, and (c) educational media. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

Ethnic identity, the extent to which one defines one's self as a member of a particular ethnic group, has been found to be an important predictor of African American adolescents' psychological and behavioral well-being. This study experimentally examined the effects of a school-based emancipatory intervention on the ethnic identity of African American adolescents. Using a promising education framework drawn from elements of East African Ujamaa philosophy and practice, the intervention was provided to a randomly selected group of 32 eighth graders in a predominately African American inner-city mainstream public school and then compared to a randomly selected group of 33 eighth graders in a regularly scheduled life skills class from the same 260 Journal of Black Psychology 38(3) population. Contrary to expectations, growth trajectory modeling indicated that participants' ethnic identity significantly decreased throughout the intervention compared to youth in the control group. Intervention and evaluation challenges are discussed as are implications for future practice and research.